THOR-6 Meeting expectations Telenor will soon be launching the latest satellite in their constellation, THOR-6. The long and complex manufacturing process is now at an end and as the satellite is carefully shipped to the European spaceport at Kourou, Helen Jameson looks back at the process that the company has gone through to get to this stage. "Thor 6 is the first Telenor satellite built by a European company. Thales Alenia Space is particularly proud of the confidence made by Telenor for the most powerful satellite of its fleet. The satellite has been manufactured and delivered in time after 24 months. Ready for shipment from beginning of May 2009, Thor 6 is now ready to go to Kourou and meet its rendezvous with its launcher," said Emmanuel Grave, VP Telecommunication for Thales Alenia Space. The story of THOR-6 began in 2006. Telenor, the leading Norwegian satellite operator, delivers television and data communica- tions services to the Nordic region and has broken into the Central and Eastern European market, achieving great success. The company owns and operates two satellites THOR III and THOR-5, both located at the orbital slot 1° West; and also owns high power capacity on the Intelsat 10-02 satellite. At present, Telenor broadcasts over 220 channels and 80 radio stations and the addition of THOR-6 to the constellation will secure 1° West as a broadcast hotspot. Telenor identified a requirement for more capacity over the Nordic and Central and Eastern European region due to the growth in demand for 26 w w w.satellite-evolution.com | September/October 2009 thor.pmd 26 12/10/2009, 00:04